About “The Rain Don't Fall On Me”

One of Blind Willie Johnson’s least known songs, the title is probably due to a missunderstanding on the part of Columbia Recordsofficial Frank Walker he worked with. Given Johnson’s thick accent and distinct voice, he could easily have misheared the uncommon phrase, “latter rain” to be “oh the rain.” In reality, Johnson was singing about Latter Rain. Latter Rain is a Pentacostal Christian concept from the book of Joel, where the passage is interpreted to mean that the Holy Spirit will pour out in the end times. While it is unlikely that Johnson was aware of the concept in its entirety, it is almost certain that he felt he called by the Holy Spirit, given his Evangelism.